Archive | December, 2009

According to Brittany’s grandfather, Gordon Toft, she and her grandmother, Marry Toft, recently built this snowman in their yard on 13 Mile Road in Algoma Township recently.

“She teases her grandma every morning and says, ‘Is my boyfriend still outside or did he run away?’” said Gordon. “My wife would look out the window and chuckle, ‘He must really like you, he’s been sitting in the same spot out in the cold for days!’”

Great snowman, Brittany!

If you have a snowman or winter fun picture, send it to us and we’ll print them as space allows. Email it to postnews@charter.net with your name, phone number, and a brief description, or mail it to Snowman, c/o The Cedar Springs Post, PO Box 370, Cedar Springs, Michigan 49319.

As the 2009 hunting season winds down, the Department of Natural Resources reports that the Nov. 15-30 firearm season was the safest on record in Michigan with no fatalities. Only one hunting fatality—during the spring turkey season—was reported the entire 2009 hunting season, DNR Law Enforcement Division records show.

“Michigan has seen a continued drop in hunter casualty incidents since implementation of mandatory hunter education and mandatory hunter orange laws,” said Sgt. Jon Wood, program supervisor for the DNR’s Hunter Education Program.

The 2009 hunting season recorded 12 hunting-related accidents, and just one fatality. In 2005, the DNR recorded 19 accidents with three fatalities; and in 2000, there were seven fatalities and 32 accidents. In 1950, the department recorded 25 fatalities and 190 accidents.

Hunter safety training became mandatory for first-time hunters ages 12-16 in 1971; while wearing hunter orange became law in 1977. In 1970, there were 18 fatalities and 212 accidents. Ten years later, the number of fatalities dropped to nine, while the number of accidents decreased to 107.

“Most of the credit goes to the nearly 3,000 Michigan volunteer Hunter Education instructors across the state,” Wood said. “Without their dedication and professionalism, the sport of hunting would not be as safe as it is now.”

Another significant reason for the continued drop in fatalities and accidents is the active role Michigan conservation officers take in educating hunters in the classroom and in the field, said DNR Law Enforcement Chief Gary Hagler.

“Conservation officers continue to make enforcement of safety violations a top priority,” Hagler said.

Hagler and Wood remind hunters to always think about safety while in the field. There are 10 basic rules of firearm safety all hunters should remember:

* Keep your gun’s muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
* Treat every firearm as if it was loaded.
* Be sure of your target and what is in front of it and beyond it.
* Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot.
* Check your barrel and ammunition.
* Unload firearms when not in use.
* Point your firearm only at something you intend to shoot.
* Do not run, jump or climb with a loaded firearm.
* Store firearms and ammunition separately and safely.
* Avoid alcohol and drugs before and during shooting.

(ARA) – Jack Frost is nipping at your pet’s nose. Winter is here again, and cold weather can be uncomfortable and dangerous to your pet.

“In colder regions of the country, pet owners should already know that they need to make accommodations for their pets, but winter can be hard on a pet even in warmer states, like Georgia, where I work,” says Dr. Larry R. Corry, president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). “While we don’t get a lot of snow, it does get cold in the winter, and when it gets below freezing, our recommendation is that pet owners get their pets inside.”

Here are the AVMA’s top 10 winter tips for pet owners:

* Even if you own a sled dog, living outside during the depths of winter is very difficult. If you must keep your dog outside year round, remember that dogs must be allowed time to get acclimated to the cold with the change of the seasons. This builds up a winter coat they will need to survive. Corry recommends that dog owners with outside dogs double check to make sure their dog’s housing is well insulated, including straw or padding to sleep on.
“If you want to heat a doghouse, be careful to ensure that the heat source is installed properly so that the animal cannot be hurt,” he says. “If you can’t or won’t bring the animal into your home, consider bringing it inside a garage on bitter cold days.”
* Corry also advises pet owners to refrain from taking their pets near frozen ponds. Many dogs and cats fall through or sometimes are cast adrift on an ice float.
* Keep your pet away from antifreeze with ethylene glycol. It’s sweet and extremely lethal, even in small doses. The AVMA provides a brochure and video on this and other household hazards and poisons.
* Honk your horn or pound on the hood before starting your car on cold days. To a cat, a warm engine block can seem like a nice escape from cold winter winds.
* Carbon monoxide is just as lethal to pets as it is for people. Make sure your home has a carbon monoxide detector, and, if you bring your pet from the outdoors into a garage during the winter, make sure exhaust fumes from your car aren’t allowed to build up inside.
* Cold air is dry air, so your pet can become dehydrated easily in the winter. Give him plenty of fresh water. If the bowl of water you put outside for your dog or cat freezes, it’s of no use to the animal.
* Road salt and ice melting products are not only irritating to the pads on your pet’s feet, but when your pet cleans itself by licking off these chemicals and ingesting them, they can cause gastrointestinal problems. Wash your pet’s feet after she’s been outdoors.
* Consider booties for your dog’s feet. Booties help prevent ice balls between the toes that can be both painful and do damage to the toe pads.
* Be careful about candles, space heaters and fireplaces – pets can get burned and even set the house on fire.
* Pay close attention to your older pet in winter, especially if he suffers from arthritis. Arthritic pain is even worse in icy winds and cold temperatures. Seek the advice of your veterinarian to help your pet cope with arthritis.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Heb 12:1-2 (NIV).
Well, here we are again standing on the verge of entering a New Year, a time when we often reflect on the past, and ponder the future. A time when we are hopeful that 2010 will bring with it blessings and happiness and many other things that did not exist, nor were experienced in 2009. However, we also often find ourselves questioning what difference does another year bring? What is such a big deal about a New Year? Why will it be any different than the last one? The truth is, not much, if I carry with us the same old attitudes, discouragements and disappointments of the previous year. Proverbs tells me, “As man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Meaning we are what we think! So, what are your thoughts for the New Year?
I have shared this verse in Hebrews because I find it gives some great insights into looking toward the future. First, it reminds us that we are not alone. Notice that the writer encourages us with the fact that there is great number of witnesses. The witnesses here are spoken of in chapter 11. They were men and women of faith, who, like us, faced challenges of many kinds. Yet, they continued to move forward in faith and hope. The thought of knowing I am never the only one and that many others have gone before encourages me to look to the future with hope. The implication here is also that others are encouraging us to keep going, don’t give up.
Secondly, we are encouraged to “throw off’ everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us. Notice it says throw off everything that hinders. Not just the sin, but anything else that may hinder our ability to move forward in faith and hope. What is hindering you from thinking different in 2010? What is hindering you from believing this year will be different? Are they broken relationships, past disappointments, maybe even past successes? Whatever they are, we are encouraged to “throw them off.” Remove them! Get rid of them! If it is some sin, we must do the same. Interesting enough, the biggest sin I find I must “throw off” is that of my doubt and unbelief. Those negative thoughts that are contrary to God’s thoughts. The ones that say, “this year will not be any different.” Or “you will always struggle with your drinking, your marriage will always have problems, and your children will never give their life to Christ. You will always be a worry wart; you will never know real peace.”
According to Hebrews 12, notice the goal of these thoughts. They are designed to discourage us and get us the quit the race of faith, to just stop the race of faith and say, “I am done trusting he can make my life and circumstances different. Stop hoping and trusting Him altogether.” You may remember the old saying, “quitters never win and winners never quit.” Keep trusting the Lord in 2010. Keep believing His plans for you are to prosper you and not to harm you. God’s plans are always designed to give you a hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11).
Lastly, how do we do this when things right now are the same? Fix your eyes on Jesus! Another translation says, “Looking” unto Jesus. This means, we realize that He and He alone is our answer. He can and will still do miracles in our lives. He still answers prayers and provides for our every need. So, we continue to look to Him as we enter the New Year. Why? Because He is the author and the perfector of our faith. He started this ability of ours to trust and have hope. Therefore, He will sustain it and complete it in us, if we will just keep running the race in 2010. So, “throw off” the hindrances of 2009 and enter 2010 with hope and faith that greater days are ahead.

The Cedar Springs Christian Church, “The Old Chapel” is happy to present Pastor Ryan Black. He comes to us from Rockford, Michigan. He and his wife Gina have three children, Aubree, who is one year old, and their recently born twins, Caleb Ryan and Ella Grace. We are excited that Ryan has come to Cedar Springs to present the Word of God to our local community. “We have to connect the dots,” states Pastor Ryan. “People need to be taught the whole Bible so they can understand God’s plan.“

Public is invited to attend the Pastor installation service on Sunday, January 3, at 10:30 a.m. at 340 W. Pine Street, south of the city water tower. Questions? Call 696-1160, Sharon Magoon, Church Secretary.

H. Ardis (Totten) Westfall, age 84, formerly from the Cedar Springs area, passed away on December 20, 2009 in Chillicothe Missouri. Ardis was preceded in death by a son, Ricky, and husbands, Chuck Bazzett and Don Westfall, plus two brothers Lloyd and Jack. She is survived by two daughters, Sandy (Gordon) Jones of Dawn, MO and Darlene (Terry) VerDuin of Caledonia, MI. Also five grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; sisters and brother, Edna Pieper of Polo, MO, Doris Starr of Cedar Springs, MI, Joan Wainwright of Sand Lake, MI, sister-in-law Pat Totten of Mesa, AZ, Bob (Sandy) Totten of Trufant, MI; and many nieces and nephews. Funeral took place on December 23, 2009 in Chillicothe, MO with burial at Welsh Cemetery, Dawn, MO.

Not how did he die, but how did he live?
Not what did he gain, but what did he give?
These are the units to measure the worth
Of a man as a man, regardless of birth.
Not, what was his church, nor what was his creed?
But had he befriended those really in need?
Was he ever ready, with word of good cheer,
To bring back a smile, to banish a tear?
Not what did the sketch in the newspaper say,
But how many were sorry when he passed away?

It’s been six years, but we still miss you and think of you everyday.
Love, your family

From the time the first U.S. Post Office was established in Cedar Springs on February 4, 1857, mail carriers have always worked out of the local office. As of January 16, 2010, that will no longer be the case. Instead, they will work out of the larger Rockford location.

“The U.S. Postal Service has been looking at their finances and what would be a more efficient use of space in post offices all across the nation,” said Sabrina Todd, communications specialist for the Greater Michigan District of the United States Postal Service. “Rockford is larger. If you are not utilizing all the space you are wasting space.”

Todd did not have any numbers on whether it would save them anything financially.

The Post has received several calls and letters about other possible changes occurring, but according to both Todd and Matt Dykema, acting postmaster at Cedar Springs, no other services will be affected by the move. Window operations and hours and the location of the Post Office boxes will all stay the same. Mail is still expected to be in the PO Boxes by 10 a.m. each day.

Santa Claus was seen out and about last weekend in Cedar Springs, in a last minute effort to hear kid’s wishes before tonight’s big journey. He was seen at Family Fare in Cedar Springs (see photo above) and at Kelly’s Restaurant in Cedar Springs. If you look at the sky tonight, you just might see him zooming across the sky! Or, visit www.noradsanta.org to watch his progress or visit Santa’s village, Merry Christmas!

When the Post got a call last Thursday morning, December 17 that another body had been found at the Pierson exit in the same location as Julia Dawson’s body in 2004, it had a chilling effect. “The cops are there now,” said the caller.

As it turned out, the Kent County Sheriff Deputies were helping to profile the case for an upcoming episode of a new cable television show by Story House Productions, and were filming a re-creation.

“We told Montcalm County Dispatch we’d be out here this morning,” said one of the deputies, “but a road commission worker came by and thought we’d discovered another body.”

Julia Dawson, of Sparta, went missing in December 2004, and her body was discovered near the Pierson overpass in early January 2005. Her husband, Tim Dawson, was convicted last year of the crime.